ATLANTA - Dale Cardwell came out swinging against his Democratic rivals for the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, accusing one of being a Republican and another of only running after national party officials begged.

"It's time that somebody runs as an independent voice for Georgians," said Cardwell, a former investigative reporter for WSB-TV in Atlanta, after filing the paperwork on Wednesday to get his name on the ballot.

Cardwell said DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones - who twice voted for George W. Bush - is running in the wrong primary.

"Vernon Jones is a Republican in Democratic clothing," Cardwell said.

He labeled former state lawmaker, Jim Martin, "a convenient-crat," who only got into the race after national party officials pledged to funnel cash to his campaign.

Cardwell, Jones and Martin will face off in a July primary for the right to challenge Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss in November. A fourth Democrat, ecologist Rand Knight, is expected to qualify on Thursday.

It's a race that's looking like it will turn bitter fast.

On Tuesday, Jones accused the state's Democrats of recruiting "losers" and said Martin was too liberal to win in Georgia.

There was no immediate comment Wednesday from the Jones and Martin camps to Cardwell's accusations.

Cardwell, 45, has shunned donations from political action committees and has struggled to raise money for his maiden bid for elected office. He had just $17,892 in his campaign account as of March 31.

Also on Wednesday, Markel Hutchins, a 30-year-old minister, qualified to run as a Democratic primary challenger against U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a 68-year-old icon of the civil rights movement.

Hutchins is best known for representing the family of an elderly woman killed by police during a botched drug raid in Atlanta. On Wednesday, he praised Lewis as a national leader in the Democratic party but said he had neglected the pressing needs of his Atlanta district. He suggested Lewis' time was past.

"The winds of change are closing you saw it in the presidential primary," Hutchins said.

Lewis faced heavy criticism in the black community for endorsing Hillary Rodham Clinton in the presidential race, becoming one of her most prominent black supporters. Lewis own district voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama and he has since switched his allegiance to the Illinois senator.

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